Method and system for humanely dispatching wounded game

ABSTRACT

A method, system, and apparatus for humanely dispatching wounded game in the field comprises a shank with a connecting end, a curved region, and a pointed end connected to a grip formed at the connecting end of the shank. The grip includes a front surface, a rear surface and a lip formed along the forward edge of the grip. The apparatus, and specifically the curved region in the shank, is configured to allow the pointed end of the shank to penetrate a target below the target&#39;s skull and, upon continued insertion, penetrate the brain/brain stem of the target thereby humanely dispatching the target.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments are generally related to the field of hunting tools. Moreparticularly, embodiments relate to methods and systems for humanelydispatching game wounded in the field.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is common for a hunter's first attempt to bag game to result in themortal wounding of the game without causing its immediate death. This isparticularly true when hunting upland game, waterfowl, and other suchgame where a shotgun is the primary weapon. In such cases, the game fowlis often struck by a sufficient number of pellets to ensure its ultimatedemise. However, the bird is often wounded, but alive when the hunterarrives to retrieve the game. Thus, it would be advantageous to have atool for quickly dispatching wounded game once it is retrieved.

Prior art methods for dispatching fowl are commonly centered on crushingthe bird's head with a vice, pliers, or other such device. However, suchdevices are archaic, cause the wounded game unnecessary pain, can causean unwanted mess, and can be difficult to carry in the field. Therefore,a need exists for a portable, humane, tool for dispatching fowl that canbe easily taken into the field.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of someof the innovative features unique to the embodiments disclosed and isnot intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of thevarious aspects of the embodiments can be gained by taking the entirespecification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.

It is, therefore, one aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide atool.

It is another aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide for anenhanced method, apparatus, and system for dispatching wounded game.

It is another aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide an enhancedapparatus, method, and system for a portable tool for quickly andhumanely dispatching wounded game in the field.

The aforementioned aspects and other objectives and advantages can nowbe achieved as described herein. An apparatus comprising a shank with aconnecting end, a curved region, and a pointed end is connected to agrip formed at the connecting end of the shank. The grip includes afront surface, a rear surface and a lip formed along the forward edge ofthe front side and rear side of the grip. The apparatus and specificallythe curved region in the shank is configured to allow the pointed end ofthe shank to penetrate a target below the target's skull and, uponcontinued insertion, penetrate the brain/brain stem of said targetthereby humanely dispatching the target.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally-similar elements throughout the separate viewsand which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification,further illustrate the embodiments and, together with the detaileddescription, serve to explain the embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 depicts a tool for dispatching wounded game in the field;

FIG. 1A depicts a reverse side of a tool for dispatching wounded game inthe field;

FIG. 2 depicts an alternative embodiment of an apparatus and system fordispatching wounded game in the field;

FIG. 3A depicts an exploded view of a pointed end comprising a hookassociated with a tool for dispatching wounded game in the field inaccordance with an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 3B depicts an exploded view of a pointed end comprising a lefttwist associated with a tool for dispatching wounded game in the fieldin accordance with an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 3C depicts an exploded view of a pointed end comprising a righttwist associated with a tool for dispatching wounded game in the fieldin accordance with an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 3D depicts an exploded view of a pointed end comprising a split-vtip associated with a tool for dispatching wounded game in the field inaccordance with an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 3E depicts an exploded view of a pointed end comprising a straighttip associated with a tool for dispatching wounded game in the field inaccordance with an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 3F depicts an exploded view of a pointed end comprising a spiraltip associated with a tool for dispatching wounded game in the field inaccordance with an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 3G depicts an exploded view of a pointed end comprising a loosecorkscrew tip associated with a tool for dispatching wounded game in thefield in accordance with an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts an exploded view of an alternative grip associated with atool for dispatching wounded game in the field in accordance with analternative embodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts a tool being used to dispatch wounded game in the fieldin accordance with an alternative embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart depicting logical operational stepsassociated with a method of dispatching wounded game in the field inaccordance with an alternative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The particular values and configurations discussed in these non-limitingexamples can be varied and are cited merely to illustrate at least oneembodiment and are not intended to limit the scope thereof. Variousmodifications to the preferred embodiments, disclosed herein, will bereadily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and thedisclosure set forth herein may be applicable to other embodiments andapplications without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentspecification and the claims hereto appended. Thus, the presentspecification is not intended to be limited to the embodimentsdescribed, but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with thedisclosure set forth herein.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 1A illustrate a portable tool 100 for humanelydispatching wounded game. Hunting enthusiasts commonly encounter asituation where a target is wounded. Such situations require the hunterto quickly dispatch the wounded game. However, traditionally the game iskilled manually, or by using tools that crush the targets skull. Thesemethods are unsatisfactory because they are often messy and causesignificant damage to the animal's carcass. Such destruction is notdesirable if the target is to be used, for example, in dog trainingwhere a headless body is not useful. Likewise, the hunter may wish topreserve the entire body in tact for various other reasons.

Tool 100 fills this need by providing a portable utility that can becarried into the field, to quickly dispatch wounded game. Tool 100includes a shank 120. Shank 120 is formed with a pointed end 115 that isconfigured to pierce the wounded game on the back of the head, justbelow the skull. Shank 120 includes a curved region 110 and a connectingend 105.

The curved region 110 of shank 120 is specifically configured so thatafter the pointed end 115 is inserted below the skull, the continuedinsertion of the shank 120 drives the pointed end 115 upward into thewounded game's brain and/or brain stem, thereby quickly and humanelydispatching the target. Thus, the angle of curved region 110 iscritical. The angle of curved region 110 is preferably between 20 and 80degrees, and may be selected to suit a specific target. For example amore dramatic angle may be required for game with a larger head, longerneck, or other such anatomical feature. The angle of curved region 110can therefore be selected to match the anatomy of the game the hunter ishunting.

Shank 120 can be formed with a tapered rectangular shape. Shank 120 istapered so that pointed end 115 terminates in a sharp point.Alternatively shank 120 can be formed with a tapered tubular shape asshown in FIGS. 3 a-3G below.

In a preferred embodiment shank 120 is formed from a plastic polymer,wood, aluminum, or other metal, or a combination thereof. It should beappreciated that the tool can be used in conjunction with game fowl,dove, quail, ducks, geese, snipe, pigeon, chickens, turkey, fish andother species of game. In addition, the length of the shank and the sizeof the grip may be altered to fit the specific anatomy of the game uponwhich the tool is intended to be used. This may include providingmarkings on a “one size fits all” version of the shank 120 thatindicates to the user roughly how deep the shank 120 needs to beinserted in order to effectively reach the brain/brain stem of a varietyof different game animals. Such markings are shown in FIG. 2 as markings220. Markings 220 can be color coded and/or labeled to identify the gamespecies the mark is associated with. This provides the user a metric forhow deep the tool should be inserted for that species.

Connecting end 105 of the shank 120 is connected to grip 140. Grip 140is intended to be grasped between the thumb and index fingers. Grip 140includes a front surface 140A and rear surface 140B (shown in FIG. 1A ofthe reverse side of tool 100). The front side of front surface 140Aincludes a lip 125A and the front side of rear surface 140B includes lip125B. Lips 125 A and 125 B prevent the users fingers from slipping offthe grip 140. Grip 140 also includes a hole 135 formed to accept aretaining device 145, such as a lanyard or key chain ring. This allows auser to easily connect tool 100 to a belt, boot, gun, backpack, or otherclothing article via the retaining device 145 so that the tool 100 canbe easily carried into the field. In an alternative embodiment retainingdevice 145 can have an elastic property or otherwise be configured witha retractable cord so that the tool 100 can be pulled away from the userfor use in the field without being removed from its connection to theuser when it is used.

Grip 140 can be comprised of a sub-structure such as a plastic polymer,wood, metal such as aluminum, or the like, with a rubber coating 130formed over the sub-structure. The grip 140 can include a plurality ofridges comprising parallel raised ridges 132, parallel sunken ridges,concentrically raised rings 131, dimples, or the like to promote auser's grip and prevent slippage. It should be appreciated that anycombination of ridges, rings, dimples, or the like can be included onthe front surface 140A and/or rear surface 140B, so as to bestfacilitate the user's grip.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of tool 100. It should benoted that equivalent or similar features throughout the figures arelabeled with the same reference numerals. In the preferred embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2, tool 100 includes a plurality of raised dimples132 to prevent a user's fingers from slipping off of grip 140.Furthermore, in an alternative embodiment, grip 140 can further includea bottle opener, which comprises a cutout 205 in the back of grip 140with a flat side 215 and a lip 210. FIG. 2 also illustrates a furtheralternative embodiment wherein a key ring 146 is connected to hole 135of the tool 100.

FIGS. 3A-3G illustrate a set of shanks 120 each of which can be used inaccordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention. For example,FIG. 3A illustrates a hook curved region 305 of a shank 120. Likewise,FIG. 3B shows a left twisted curved region 310 of a shank 120. FIG. 3Cshows a right twisted curved region 315 of shank 120. FIG. 3Dillustrates an alternative embodiment wherein shank 120 includes av-split pointed end 320. The v-split illustrated in FIG. 3D may be sharpso that as the v-split point end 320 encounters obstructions within thetarget, it is capable of cutting or severing such obstructions (such as,for example, the target's brain or brainstem, spinal cord, etc.) furtheraiding in the humane and immediate death of the target. FIG. 3Eillustrates a straight shank 120. FIG. 3F displays a spiraled region 325of shank 120. It should be appreciated with respect to spiraled region325 that this spiral could be advantageously included in a curved shanksuch as curved region 110 as shown in FIG. 1. Finally, FIG. 3Gillustrates a loose corkscrew region 330 of a shank 120.

It should be appreciated that while FIGS. 3A-3G illustrate a shankembodied as tubular and/or tapered, such shanks could further beconfigured with a tapered and/or rectangular shaped shank, as shown inFIG. 1. Furthermore, each of FIGS. 3A-3G could alternatively be used asshank 120.

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the tool 100. In thisembodiment grip 140 is replaced with a handle 405. Handle 405 isincluded to be grasped by a wrapping ones fingers around finger gripregion 410. Grip 140 includes a finger guard 415, comprising a lateralmember 420 affixed to shank 120 such that the lateral member shields theusers fingers and hand from the target.

Finger grip region 410 is configured to fit users fingers with a seriesof indentions 425 and protrusions 430 intended to provide the user acomfortable and ergonomic grip of handle 405.

It should be appreciated that tool 100 illustrated in FIG. 4 could beadvantageously arranged with any of the shanks 120 illustrated in FIGS.3A-3G. Furthermore, handle 405 shown in FIG. 4 can include a hole 135formed to accept a retaining device such as retaining device 145 shownin FIG. 1. This allows a user to easily connect tool 100 to a belt,boot, gun, backpack, or other clothing article via the retaining device145 so that the tool 100 can be easily carried into the field.

Handle 405 can be comprised of a sub-structure such as a plasticpolymer, metal, or the like, with a rubber coating, such as coating 130shown in FIG. 1, formed over the sub-structure. The grip 140 can includea plurality of ridges, dimples, or the like to promote a user's grip andprevent slippage. Furthermore, In an alternative embodiment, handle 405can include a bottle opener which comprises a cutout 205 at the end ofhandle 405 with a flat side 215 and a lip 210.

FIG. 5 illustrates the tool 100 inserted in the brain and/or brain stem535 of a target 505 in accordance with another alternative embodiment.FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment wherein tool 100 is being used tohumanly dispatch game fowl. However, it should be appreciated that tool100 may also be used to dispatch a target including a large variety ofgame including small mammals, fish, amphibians, and birds. In general,target 505 may have an anatomy comprising an upper beak 515, lower beak510, nasal orifice 520, orbital region 525, brain case 530,brain/brainstem 535, and vertebrae 540.

Generally, grip 140 of tool 100 can be maneuvered laterally as shown byarrow 545. Maneuvering grip 140, causes shank 120 to enter the targetbelow the skull at 555 and then penetrate the target's brain/brainstem535 with pointed end 115. It should be appreciated that the curvedregion 110 of tool 100 allows the lateral movement of the grip 140 toimpart a lateral movement in shank 120 that is translated into an upwardmotion of pointed end 115, thus penetrating the brain/brain stem frombelow, without requiring the targets head to be crushed. Once pointedend 115 penetrates the target's brain 535, the target is quickly andhumanely dispatched.

Grip 140, and tool 100, can also be moved rotationally as shown by arrow550, during or after the tool 100 has been inserted into the target.Rotational motion 550 can help incur catastrophic damage to the targetsbrain/brainstem 535, to ensure the target is swiftly and humanelydispatched.

FIG. 6 illustrates a set of logical operational steps 600 for quicklyand humanly dispatching game in the filed using a tool such as tool 100shown above. The method starts at 605.

At block 610 the hunter, retrieves game that has been wounded in thefield. The tool 100 is then inserted into the wounded game, preferablyin the back of the targets head as in 615, and below the targets braincase as illustrated at 620. Next the user laterally maneuvers the tool100 such that the curved region of the shank directs the pointed end ofthe shank into the targets brain or brain stem, as described at 625.Finally, at block 630 the targets brain is penetrated and the woundedgame is therefore quickly and humanely dispatched. The method ends at635.

Based on the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a number ofembodiments, preferred and alternative, are disclosed herein. Forexample, in one embodiment, an apparatus comprising a shank comprising aconnecting end, a curved region, and a pointed end is disclosed. TheApparatus further comprises a grip formed at the connecting end of theshank comprising a front surface and a rear surface, and a lip formedalong a forward edge of said front side of said grip. The curved regionin the shank is configured to allow the pointed end of the shank topenetrate a target below the target's skull and, upon continuedinsertion, penetrate a brain of the target thereby humanely dispatchingthe target.

In another embodiment the grip of the apparatus further comprise a metalstructure formed at the connecting end of said shank, at least onevoided region configured in the metal sub-structure to accept aretaining member for attachment to said retaining member, and a rubbercoating covering the front surface and the rear surface of said grip.The rubber coating covering the front surface of the grip and the rearsurface of the grip further comprises a plurality of ridges configuredto prevent slipping.

In another embodiment the metal sub-structure further comprises a cutoutregion comprising a flat wall and a lip formed on the rear surface ofthe metal sub-structure configured to open a bottle.

In yet another alternative embodiment the apparatus and specifically thepointed end of the shank further comprises one of a left twist, a righttwist, a loose corkscrew tip, a hook tip, a straight tip, a spiral tip,and a split-v tip. Additionally, the apparatus is further configuredwherein the shank comprises at least two prongs originating at a splitat the connecting end of the shank such that each of the at least twoprongs further comprise a curve and a pointed end.

In another alternative embodiment a method for dispatching gamecomprises collecting a target, inserting a tool into the target whereinthe tool comprises: a shank comprising a curved region, a connectingend, and a pointed end; a grip formed at said connecting end of theshank comprising a front surface and a rear surface; and a lip formedalong a forward edge of the front side of the grip. The method includesinserting the pointed end of the shank below the targets skull andfurther inserting the shank such that the curved region in the shankallows the pointed end of the shank to penetrate a brain of the targetthereby humanely dispatching the target.

The method can further comprise forming the grip as a metalsub-structure at the connecting end of the shank. The method includesforming at least one voided region in the metal sub-structure configuredto accept a retaining member for attaching a retaining member, andforming a rubber coating covering the front surface and the rear surfaceof the grip. The rubber coating may be configured with a plurality ofridges configured to prevent slipping.

In an alternative embodiment the method further comprises forming themetal sub-structure to comprise a cutout region comprising a flat walland a lip formed on the rear surface of the metal sub-structureconfigured to open a bottle.

In another alternative embodiment the method further comprises formingthe pointed end with at least one of: a left twist, a right twist, aloose corkscrew tip, a hook tip, a straight tip, a spiral tip, and asplit-v tip.

In yet another alternative embodiment the method further comprisesforming the shank with at least two prongs originating at a split at theconnecting end of the shank such that each of the at least two prongsfurther comprise a curved region and a pointed end.

In another embodiment A system comprises a shank comprising a connectingend, a curved region, and a pointed end; a grip formed at the connectingend of the shank comprising a front surface and a rear surface; and alip formed along a forward edge of the front side of the grip. Thecurved region in the shank is configured to allow the pointed end of theshank to penetrate a target below the target's skull and, upon continuedinsertion, penetrate a brain of the target thereby humanely dispatchingthe target.

In yet another embodiment the system the grip of the system furthercomprises a metal sub-structure formed at the connecting end of theshank and at least one voided region configured in the metalsub-structure to accept a retaining member for attachment to a retainingmember. A rubber coating covers the front surface and the rear surfaceof the grip. The rubber coating covering the front surface of the gripand the rear surface of the grip further comprises a plurality of ridgesconfigured to prevent slipping.

In an alternative embodiment the metal sub-structure further comprises acutout region comprising a flat wall and a lip formed on the rearsurface of the metal sub-structure configured to open a bottle.

In yet another embodiment, the pointed end of the shank furthercomprises one of: a left twist, a right twist, a loose corkscrew tip, ahook tip, a straight tip, a spiral tip, and a split-v tip.

The shank may also comprise at least two prongs originating at a splitat the connecting end of the shank such that each of the at least twoprongs further comprise a curve and a pointed end.

It will be appreciated that variations of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirablycombined into many other different systems or applications. Also, thatvarious presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives,modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequentlymade by those skilled in the art which are also intended to beencompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a shank comprising aconnecting end, a curved region, and a pointed end; a grip formed atsaid connecting end of said shank comprising a front surface and a rearsurface; and a lip formed along a forward edge of said grip.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said curved region in said shank isconfigured to allow said pointed end of said shank to penetrate a targetbelow said target's skull and, upon continued insertion, penetrate abrain of said target thereby humanely dispatching said target.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said grip further comprises: asub-structure formed to connect to said connecting end of said shank; atleast one voided region configured in said sub-structure to accept aretaining member for attachment to said retaining member; and a rubbercoating covering said front surface and said rear surface of said grip.4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said rubber coating covering saidfront surface of said grip and said rear surface of said grip furthercomprises a plurality of ridges configured to prevent slipping.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 3 wherein said sub-structure further comprises acutout region comprising a flat wall and a lip formed on a side of saidsub-structure configured to open a bottle.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said pointed end further comprises one of: a left twist; a righttwist; a loose corkscrew tip; a hook tip; a straight tip; a spiral tip;and a split-v tip.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said shankcomprises at least two prongs originating at a split at said connectingend of said shank such that each of said at least two prongs furthercomprise a curve and a pointed end.
 8. A method for dispatching gamecomprising: collecting a target; inserting a tool into said targetwherein said tool comprises: a shank comprising a curved region, aconnecting end, and a pointed end; a grip formed at said connecting endof said shank comprising a front surface and a rear surface; and a lipformed along a forward edge of said grip; and inserting said pointed endof said shank below said targets skull; further inserting said shankwherein said curved region in said shank is configured to allow saidpointed end of said shank to penetrate a brain of said target therebyhumanely dispatching said target.
 9. The method of claim 8 furthercomprising: forming said grip as a metal sub-structure connected to saidconnecting end of said shank; forming at least one voided region in saidmetal sub-structure configured to accept a retaining member forattaching a retaining member; and forming a rubber coating covering saidfront surface and said rear surface of said metal sub-structure of saidgrip.
 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising: forming said rubbercoating covering said front surface of said grip and said rear surfaceof said grip with a plurality of ridges configured to prevent slipping.11. The method of claim 10 further comprising: forming said metalsub-structure to comprise a cutout region comprising a flat wall and alip formed on a side of said metal sub-structure configured to open abottle.
 12. The method of claim 8 further comprising forming pointed endwith at least one of: a left twist; a right twist; a loose corkscrewtip; a hook tip; a straight tip; a spiral tip; and a split-v tip. 13.The method of claim 8 further comprising forming said shank with atleast two prongs originating at a split at said connecting end of saidshank such that each of said at least two prongs further comprise acurved region and a pointed end.
 14. A system comprising: a shankcomprising a connecting end, a curved region, and a pointed end; a gripformed at said connecting end of said shank comprising a front surfaceand a rear surface; and a lip formed along a forward edge of said grip.15. The system of claim 14 wherein said curved region in said shank isconfigured to allow said pointed end of said shank to penetrate a targetbelow said target's skull and, upon continued insertion, penetrate abrain of said target thereby humanely dispatching said target.
 16. Thesystem of claim 14 wherein said grip further comprises: a metalsub-structure connected to said connecting end of said shank; at leastone voided region configured in said metal sub-structure to accept aretaining member for attachment to a retaining member; and a rubbercoating covering said front surface and said rear surface of said metalsub-structure of said grip.
 17. The system of claim 16 wherein saidrubber coating covering said front surface of said grip and said rearsurface of said grip further comprises a plurality of ridges configuredto prevent slipping.
 18. The system of claim 16 wherein said metalsub-structure further comprises a cutout region comprising a flat walland a lip formed on a side of said metal sub-structure configured toopen a bottle.
 19. The system of claim 14 wherein said pointed endfurther comprises one of: a left twist; a right twist; a loose corkscrewtip; a hook tip; a straight tip; a spiral tip; and a split-v tip. 20.The system of claim 14 wherein said shank comprises at least two prongsoriginating at a split at said connecting end of said shank such thateach of said at least two prongs further comprise a curve and a pointedend.